Local youth's murder in Karnataka shared as attack on Bihari migrant in Tamil Nadu

Shinjinee Majumder

Mar 10

Trigger Warning: Descriptions of Violence

Social media is rife with claims about migrants from Bihar being attacked in Tamil Nadu. In one such instance, a video of a man lying in a pool of blood is viral with the claim that it is of a migrant worker from Bihar being attacked in Tamil Nadu. The man can be seen gasping for breath in the video. Alt News will only provide screenshots of the video due to its graphic nature. Abhishek Mishra, the IT head of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's (BJYM) Mehrauli unit in Delhi, shared the video with the same claim. (Archive)

Media outlet Dainik Bhaskar posted a compilation of videos that apparently portrayed Bihari labourers being assaulted in Tamil Nadu. The clip in question can be seen in the very first second of that compilation. A snippet of the viral video can also be seen at the 0:19 minute mark.

Fact Check

It is worth noting that one can hear words in Kannada being spoken in the background of the viral video. People can be heard saying "Who did this to him?", "Someone has stabbed him" and "Please call the ambulance" in Kannada. Taking a cue from this, we performed a relevant keyword search relating to stabbing incidents in Karnataka. In the process, we came across several reports of a double murder that occurred at Doddabelavangala on February 17.

As per a Deccan Herald report, two locals, Bharath Kumar (23) and Prateek (17), were murdered during a brawl at a sports tournament at Doddabelavangala, 54 km northwest of Bengaluru. Prateek was stabbed with a dagger that remained stuck in his private parts while Kumar was stabbed in the lower abdomen. According to police, the two had nothing to do with the brawl.

The report says both the victims were students and residents of Doddabelavangala, Karnataka.

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According to a statement by Mallikarjun Baldandi, superintendent of police, Bengaluru district, given to the newspaper, four men drove up to the ground and tried to park their car inside the ground but the players and organizers objected to this. An argument followed, and the crowd smashed the car's glass.

The four went to the police station but didn't file a complaint. Their car was again stopped and vandalized by those who took part in the tournament. While escaping, they ran into Kumar and Prateek who were wearing T-shirts provided by the organizers. The men stabbed the two though they were not part of the crowd that smashed the car.

Residents staged a protest after the killings, and a large number of cops had been deployed in the village. Consequently, according to a The Hindu report dated February 19, 2023, the Doddabelavangala police shot at two accused in the double murder case and apprehended them on the city's outskirts. The accused, Vinay, 30, and Trimurthy, 27, were found waiting near a railway crossing in Doddaballapur. When the police asked the duo to surrender, they allegedly attacked constables Hussain and Sunil. In retaliation, inspector Harish opened fire at their legs, said the police.

News18 Kannada also reported the confrontation between the police and the two accused in the double murder of Bharat and Prateek. One can notice the viral video playing in the background of the news anchor during her monologue. The video is played again during the actual reportage.

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Alt News reached out to Mallikarjun Baldandi, superintendent of police, Bengaluru District (Rural), who confirmed that the video was shot in Doddabelavangala in the Bangalore rural district. He further stated that a murder case had been registered and 14 locals had been arrested.

Thus, it is evident that an unrelated video of a man lying in a pool of blood is viral with the false claim that a Bihari labourer was attacked in Tamil Nadu. In reality, the video portrays the aftermath of a stabbing incident that occurred in Doddabelavangala in Karnataka.

In the recent past, Alt News has debunked several videos that wee claimed to be portraying North Indian migrants being "attacked" in the state. One can find our fact checks here and here.

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